182 Account of the Geology, Mineralogy, Scenery, ¥e. 
works of art exhibited in a great city contrasted with the 
adjacent wood-clad rocky mountains, where nature appears 
in her rudest state. 
From Wehawk to Fort Lee an alternation of precipitous 
ledges and steep declivities is seen, mostly clothed with 
trees of varied verdure, but frequently displaying a rocky 
surface ; the hills retiring here and there give place for 
narrow but fertile and well cultivated strips of ground upon 
which many neat dwellings appear, environed by fruit-trees 
and diversified crops, which are seen to advantage in con-_ 
trast with the rocky eminence in the back-ground. From 
Fort Lee to the vicinity of Tappan, a distance of sixteen 
miles, the mountain presents a great uniformity of aspect— 
on its eastern face bordering on the summit, is’seen an ex- 
tensive unusual precipice called the Palisadoes of near 200 
feet perpendicular altitude ; numerous vertical fissures are 
observed in the rock, crossing each other at various angles, 
forming columns of basaltic appearance. ‘The face of 
this ledge is in general divested of verdure, but it is -here 
and there seen in the crevices.: he direction of the 
Palisado mountain is parallel with the river and is nearly 
North and South ;—the face of the ledge is slightly wa- 
ving. From the base of this precipice to the river’s bor- 
der, a distance of from three to four hundred feet, a steep 
declivity is seen covered by angular blocks of stone fallen 
from the Palisadoes—this part is shaded by trees and bush- 
es. The summitof the Palisado mountain presents a sur- 
face of slightly undulating table land that gradually rises to 
the north, its average width about two miles. It is mostly 
a wood-clad tract, as uncultivated as the Indian wilds. The 
western side of the mountain is of gradual descent, cleared 
and rendered productive; neatsandstone farm-houses range 
near the base of the hill for twenty miles like a continued 
village. From the western brow of this ridge is seen an 
interesting variety of mountain ranges, rich, highly cultiva- 
ted valleys, and extensive alluvial meadows through which 
the Hackensack and its auxiliary streams pursue their 
course. 
The minerals of this mountain-range from Bergen Point 
to its termination, are of a pretty uniform character. Coarse 
secondary greenstone, an aggregate of hornblende, feldspar 
and epidote, is exclusively the summit rock in place. The 
